Customer Reviews

Woodturning: A Foundation Course (New Edition)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of a couple of books I read cover to cover and over again before I bought my first lathe. The information is fantastic and easy to understand, although it would have helped if I had a lathe at the same time when he was explaining tool techniques but it was easy enough to pick up quickly once I got started.

The projects are good as well giving you a place to get yourself started if you are looking at that chunk of wood with only a blank picture in your head.

A month later I am going strong with my lathe, turning bowls, goblets, coasters, dibbers etc but I still constantly refer to Keith's book when I need a little help so it has been well worth every cent

To all people thinking about woodturning as a new hobby, this book is an absolute must.

I looked at many different lathe books. I bought this one and Ernie Conovers.

This book focuses more on proper techniques, and rules of turning with many examples.

This shows you practically every type of cut you could make on any project you'll likely encounter. How to choose the wood, prepare the stock, the right tool and the best technique in many, many clearly illustrated examples.

Based on what I need to do, I'll look through this book and find an example that most closely approximates what I need to get done and follow the rules.

Between both of them I have enough solid basic information on turning technique, lathe accessory use, proper tool choice, sharpening and grinding etc.

I've found them to be indispensible resources for the beginner.

If you want to learn to turn wood, this is the book for you. Keith's explanations on tool use, the illustrations, and sharpening instruction are top notch. Most woodturning books sound like some 4 dimensional game of twister when describing the use of a tool. Keith keeps it simple and easy to understand. Sharpening turning tools is one of the most daunting tasks a beginner faces, but Keith makes it simple to understand. I HIGHLY recommend this book (and I have a ton of turning books to compare it to).

This is the best book for a beginner as it goes through each step of how to use tools on a lathe. Get the video which goes with it as this again helps the understanding of how to use the lathe

I turn wood, and have read most of the usual books about it. I have not seen a better book on the fundamentals of woodturning. The theory and the practice are clearly explained and illustrated. At last the correct technique for working from the bevel is explained, and a realistic explanation of catches or digs and how to avoid them. Highly recommend this book to all beginners, and even to "clarify" points for the non-beginners.

I got this book because of a previous review/recommendation from someone on one of the woodworking sites. I also have 'Turning Wood' by Richard Raffan. This one might be better. Both together though will give you plenty of information if you are a beginner.

Well, after 3 semesters at the local community college and after I purchased about 15 books on woodturning and woodworking (all of them great) but I finally realized I still didn't have answers to the basic questions. I reviewed my notes from class and read that this book was recommended. All this time I have been struggling with the basics!! Drat! PHOOEY! Gee Whuz! Duh! I received the book today and there it is! The answers! DOn't make the same mistake as I did. Buy this book FIRST! Then you'll enjoy the rest with an understanding of how they did that! Thank you Keith where ever you are!!

Freida (I'm the woodturner in the family!)

I enjoyed reading "Woodturning: A Foundation Course" by Keith Rowley, especially his concern for the forest. I also appreciated his emphasis on safety. His illustrations could be a bit clearer, and if he used captions by each tool instead of simply a list below the picture it would be helpful. Sometimes the differences in terminology between British English and American English is a little hard to follow.

I found Taunton's Complete Ilustrated Guide to Turning by Richard Raffan to be a bit more useful. Both books would be a good edition to a beginning woodturners library.

If the reader is not familiar with British terms the instructions can be hard to understand. I thought I was good at a lot of the British trade terms, but some of the ones used in this book are well beyond my understanding.

Being a self taught learner of wood turning, I was getting frustrated with beginner books leaving gaps of specific information that I needed. The nitty-gritty detailed "do it this way and not like that" kind of info, and this book has now become the resource beside my lathe that I reference when I am not sure what/how to achieve results with the proper technique.
Short of buying DVDs and placing a TV/DVD player in the shop, or traveling to another city to attend a class, I find that a good book in hand with illustration is more immediate and to the point rather than blogging and waitng for an answer.